Low Light Mode

One of the advantages to using an iPad on stage is that it is automatically backlit. This means that you don't need to supply additional lighting for paper charts. Because it's backlit, it's also easier to read even though the screen is smaller. You get higher contrast and sharper text. Starting in OnSong 2020.8, non-text documents including PDF files can also be viewed in low light mode.

When To Use

If you play on a dimly lit stage or outdoors, you may quickly come to appreciate this advantage. But using white paper and black text is not ideal for these environments. The bright light can be hard on your eyes. In addition, the ambient light from screens can cause your face to glow white on stage. To make things easier on your eyes and less distracting for your audience, use low light mode.

Enabling Low Light Mode

Low light mode is enabled either from a foot pedal, a hot corner, or from the settings screen. To enable, go into Settings » Display Settings » Enable Low Light Mode and switch that on. When you tap Done, your screen will redraw with low light mode enabled.

Now your chord chart and menus will appear with a black background and white text. If you want your menus to retain their white background and black text, you can change this settings in Settings » Menu Settings » Use Dark Menus in Low Light Mode.

Setting an Action

You can also toggle low light mode on and off using either a foot pedal, hot corner, or MIDI trigger.

• To set a foot pedal action, go into the Foot Pedal Setup Screen, tap on a foot pedal and then pick the Toggle Low Light Mode action in the Actions Menu.
• To set a hot corner or navigation zone action, go into Settings » Navigation Settings » Hot Corners or Navigation Zones and choose the Toggle Low Light Mode action for a specific region of the screen.